Originally Posted by
ZapBrannigan
$66000 is the max combined contribution to a 401K in 2023. Wouldn't the extra 2% be about an extra $1300 per year? So about $4000 for the three years... unless you want the spill cash too. Not sure how much more that would add.
Obviously everybody has their red line and if that's yours, great.
Personally i wouldn't be willing to fly under current book for another 9 months or more over $4000.
Furthermore if the TA fails they're going to poll the pilot group to find out why. (According to Jody at the DAL roadshow) You would need a majority of the pilots polled to say 401K contribution on the retro should be 17% as opposed to 15%. Otherwise you would be right back in the same boat for TA2, wouldn't you?
2% on 1.3 billion is about 26 million dollars that we as a pilot group are giving up. Personally, it's only about $2,300 for me. One of my lines in the sand was full retro. Now "full" retro is just about impossible to categorize as it means different things to different individuals. However, I think the majority would agree that full retro includes work performed at the new pay rates, and NEC match on that worked performed. I'm not a smart individual, but it seems to me if the new NEC is 17% then the Retro should have a 17% NEC match. Heck, it should include another 1% into the MBCBP as well.
There are a lot of things in the new contract I'm happy with. I can overlook the pay rates because with our rigs we come out ahead of our peers in the LNB category when you compare min guarantee to min guarantee. I can also overlook the lack of monetary penalties in the implementation plan for the company not meeting it's deadlines.
Side note, I found it interesting that in the implementation plan if the company does not meet the payout of Retro on 20 Feb they then have to pay a 17% NEC match vice a 15% NEC match on the retro payment. Do you think they are going to miss that deadline? Just imagine if there was more language like that in the implementation plan.
However, I can most definitely send it back because of not getting "full" retro when a portion of that retro is easily definable. I can't in good conscience reward the company for dragging this negotiation out. I have no idea how much longer it would take to get TA2. However, I know I'm willing to wait as long as it takes. The more we go down the RLA pathway, the more leverage we weld. That being said, this TA will pass with at least 70% voting yes and I'll be ok with that. Each individual has to make an informed decision on what's best for them and their family and I will not fault them for that. We are empty nesters and my retirement plus half of monthly guarantee covers our bills easily so I can wait as long as needed without any financial pressure on the family side of the house...